Sunday 07 / July / 2024
Muscat: The Ministry of Education has published an explanatory statement on school transport in the Sultanate of Oman, after the spread of a video where a school bus was transporting students which was more than its specified capacity.
The Ministry of Education said: The ministry has followed up what is being circulated on social media on the issue of school transportation in the governorates of the Sultanate, and with the Ministry’s appreciation of the public’s interest, and its keenness to provide everything that would provide an appropriate learning environment for students, and to achieve the principle of transparency and partnership in aspects related to society, it would like to clarify some aspects related to the subject of school transportation according to the following:
1) During the current academic year 2022/2023, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry was able to provide additional financial funds for school transport amounting to (3.9) million OMR allocated to provide (650) additional buses; to cover the increasing growth in the number of students in school buses, and to improve school transport conditions in some of them, by renting buses with a larger and newer capacity in a number of governorates.
2) In an effort to provide the opportunity for citizens who submit the best bids and who fulfill the announced attrition requirements, it gives them a period of ten days to start purchasing their buses and equip them with the specifications and requirements specified in the tender conditions booklet. However, the challenges of the shortage of buses available in the market according to the required models still face many citizens who have awarded the tenders to them.
In conclusion, the Ministry affirms its full keenness to improve the conditions of school transport, and to enhance the security and safety specifications for its students according to the available financial resources and in partnership with all parties concerned with the matter. We welcome any inquiries related to the school transport file and other issues related to the educational process, stressing at the same time the importance of verification. Including the need to check the validity and accuracy of the data and information obtained from its official sources.
